As the nexus of a dynamic university in the midst of transforming and reinventing its brand, Dana Library/Institute of Jazz Studies is poised to move into its next iteration. Our goal is to become a user-centered library that can nimbly respond to our users’ continually changing needs in innovative ways. The Dana Library/IJS faculty and staff embarked on a six-month process in order to identify our priorities and objectives needed to achieve this goal. The resulting document, Framework for Change: Vision and Goals for the John Cotton Dana Library Rutgers University–Newark, provides readers with a high-level view of our path to success.
We began our work in spring 2016 by identifying three high priority focus areas–services, collections and space. These focus areas supported not only the Rutgers University Libraries priorities, but also the Rutgers University–Newark Strategic Plan. Each priority area was given individual attention and consideration by a dedicated group of Dana faculty and staff who volunteered to compile and consider available data about the area, add their valuable expertise on the area topic, and provide recommendations for how we can enhance these areas to better meet the needs of our users in the 21st century. The resulting compilation of this work led to a 30+ page document which detailed specific services enhancements, space needs, and collection management activities. This document will serve as our road map for next several years.
The Framework for Change document presents a broad overview of the detailed steps necessary for us to achieve success. This document will be used as an advocacy tool for our local university administrators and could also be used as a fundraising tool for donors. No matter how this document might be used externally, Dana Library has charted its course and is ready to embark on a journey to success!
On December 26, 2015, Izzy Stern tweeted: “Today is the day I found out that Rutgers doesn’t even have full ebrary access. So many sad faces.” As a graduate student in a major humanities department at Rutgers–New Brunswick, Izzy might have expected to use ebrary, one of the largest academic e-book resources, for her research in the winter break, but then had a rude awakening that day when she found out that it was not available at Rutgers, yet. So she went online and shared her frustration on Twitter with the entire world, which was totally understandable. As a matter of fact, the lack of access to e-books was a major source of complaint from our students and faculty about the library collections—hundreds of similar comments can be found in the results of the LibQual+ and previous Counting Opinions surveys. Here, I quoted only Izzy’s tweet because it is on the open web, but the problem she reported was a common one.
Overnight library hours are among the most frequently requested service enhancements students would like to see in the New Brunswick Libraries. Popular during finals, students would like the option to work 24/7 during other parts of the academic year too. Twenty-four hour spaces are also standard in most of our peer libraries—in fact, only two of our Big Ten partner institutions do not provide this service.
The Libraries partnered with Student Affairs once again to bring Club Alex back to Alexander Library during Senior Days. This much-anticipated annual event, which sold out within minutes, saw hundreds of graduating seniors and their guests descend upon the library-turned-nightclub on the day following the conclusion of finals. Alexander was transformed with all the trappings one would expect of an actual club: mood lighting and pipe and drape walls helped set the tone in the reference room—which featured a DJ, dance floor, and bar—and an R&B lounge was installed on the ground floor for those who preferred a more intimate atmosphere. A photo booth allowed partygoers to capture the excitement of the evening, and a massive Pac-Man-themed light show was projected onto the atrium walls to the delight of all in attendance. The buzz on social media was considerable, with many students expressing their gratitude and enthusiasm—and perhaps even more alumni wishing that they had had the chance to party at the library when they were still at Rutgers! Club Alex is a great opportunity for us to create an impression of the Libraries that will last in students’ minds well beyond graduation, and we are grateful to be a partner in this event each year.
On May 13th, 2016, Dana Library hosted its second annual staff development day which was centered on exploring the question, “What does it mean to be a user centered academic library in the 21st century?” A “user centered” library was defined as one that optimizes the library experience around how users can, want, or need to use it, rather than forcing the users to change their behavior to accommodate it. Impending renovations to our third floor and the concurrent Rutgers University Library master facilities planning process for an overall building renovation prompted the need for us to take a critical look at where we are now in terms of services, collections and space and where we envision ourselves to be in the future. The full day agenda included invited speakers from the Rutgers University–Newark (RU-N) Division of Student Affairs representing the Office of ADA Services and Veteran Affairs, Counseling Services, and Judicial Affairs, and Student Development/Educational Programming, along with the Rutgers University Center for Organizational Leadership and Development.